Christmas Letter 2015

 Dear Friends,

It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share with you some of what the last year(s) has brought for me.

I’m very sorry that last year I did not finish my letter. Frankly, my health issues have been getting worse and I simply did not have the energy. Please accept my apologies. I will quickly try to update you on the past two years.

Sad to say, the largest change in my life is that my father passed away shortly before Thanksgiving this year. He was 74. I will be heading down to LA in January for his funeral.

In 2013, I was in Mazatlán, Mexico for Christmas. I do not speak Spanish, but I did learn one word on that trip: Mazatlán is Spanish for DUMP. Let’s just say it was an awful trip and leave it there.

I traded in my 2005 Toyota Prius for a Nissan Rogue. I wanted a car that was easier to get into when I’m having hip or leg problems, and one with modern safety features like a backup camera. I love the new car, but I miss the mileage of the Prius — it was a cool little machine.

In 2014, I got out my tent for the first time since 1994 and went camping with my friend Mary. We had a good time, but while hiking up a mountain I developed severe dizziness and had to go back down. It put a damper on the whole trip.

In February of 2015 I visited Maui and had a wonderful time. While I was there, my parents visited too, and we spent a few days together before they continued to other islands.

One of the things we did was take a whale-watching trip, and we got mugged. Mugging is when a whale (or in this case, two whales) swims over to the boat and starts playing with it. It was quite a time — and I even got a whale selfie. This was the last time I was able to see or spend time with my father.

As I said, my medical problems have been getting worse. Over the last 6 to 9 months I’ve had a huge increase in dizziness, and I’m very worried about how much more I can take. I’m currently undergoing testing to see if anything can be done.

Also, my IVIG treatments aren’t lasting as long or doing as much for me, so in the new year they are taking me off IVIG and putting me on Rituximab — a super-strong immunosuppressant also used in treating MS.

With IVIG, they flood my system with other people’s antibodies to dilute the bad ones my body makes (the ones attacking my nervous system). With Rituximab, they destroy the antibodies in my blood. That means I cannot take IVIG while on Rituximab because the Rituximab will hunt down and destroy it. This treatment is very dangerous — my immune system will be extremely weakened, and the medication lasts 6–9 months in my system. If I develop an infection, they can’t simply “stop the med.” They give it twice and then it’s in my blood for months. But at this point, I have to do something.

It also appears my cancer may be growing again. We still do not know where it is hiding, but there is a substance called Thyroglobulin (Tg) that can only be produced by thyroid cells — cancerous or not. Since I’ve had three surgeries and three rounds of radioactive iodine, my level should be zero. It’s not, and the last three tests all show it going up. We are monitoring that.

Well, as usual, I am hoping that next year will be better than this one.

I want to thank all of you for your support, friendship, prayers, and for being you — my friends.

And as Tiny Tim said, “God bless us, everyone!”

Love,
Odell

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